eThekweni Mayor Promises Umlazi Residents Running Water After No Supply for 3 Months, Plans R900M Project

• Mayor of Ethekwini Mxolisi Kaunda has made a promise to the community of Umlazi to restore running water
• Umlazi residents have been without water for three months, with their calls for action falling on deaf ears, they took to the streets with protests
• Blaming vandalised infrastructure for the water shortage, the mayor told the community that a R900 million project is underway to fix the Durban water crisis

DURBAN - The cries of Umlazi residents have been heard by the eThekwini Municipality as it promises the soon arrival of running water.

The community of Umlazi was met by Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda on Sunday, 18 June, after a string of recent protests over the absence of water.

The community of Umlazi is adamant about making their demands heard

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The residents engaged the mayor and his officials about the lack of urgency shown by the city over the three months the community was struggling without water.

eNCA reports that Kaunda blames the deteriorating infrastructure for the water shortage:

eThekwini Mayor urges the community of Umlazi to protect their infrastructure

In a separate report by TimesLIVE, Kaunda asked residents to protect the infrastructure that serves them following a series of vandalisations of the Umlazi 4 pump station.

The station pumps water to the Umlazi 5 reservoir, which supplies Umlazi Z, AA, BB and some parts of the U section:

“We experienced vandalism in this treatment plant and started conducting repairs. During that space of repairs, we experienced further vandalism, which worsened the situation further."

The residents have received water from dispatched water supply since the recent incident. The mayor added that the city is in the process of resolving the issues through an R900 million project with Umgeni Water.

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This is how social media reacted to the Durban water shortage issue:

@Aanrei Taylor joked and said:

"We have the sea. Refine it and make fresh, drinkable water, man!"

@Ian Lawrie said:

"Delivering water by water tanker cannot possibly be cost-effective. @enca needs to investigate the water tanker issue in depth. Guaranteed this is yet another money-making racket."

@Kevin Pillay lashed out:

"The governing party is making SA citizens live like pigs. Umdhloti Beach has sewage being pumped into it. How can SA keep leaders in power who have presided over such decline? Sad to see such areas being destroyed."

@Merle concluded:

"The rest of the country is a heartbeat from the same situation!"

@leeroy sherratt remains pessimistic:

"The condition of South Africa is suitable according to the ANC. Unfortunately, they are not actually capable of seeing things through, so nothing will change."

@Virginia Reindl said:

"This is going on everywhere in South Africa."

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@Gert Van Der Merwe questioned:

"The issue around the water tankers is a big question around corruption. Why do I say, this is that the government has failed all of us. Surely the cost of the water tankers that supply the water is much higher than the repair of the broken water infrastructure supply."

City of Tshwane resorts to water tankers following cholera outbreak

Meanwhile, the City of Tshwane municipality has warned Pretoria residents against drinking running tap water after a cholera outbreak killed 23 people in Hammanskral, Briefly News reported.

The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) asked residents to treat water with bleach and boil it before consuming it.

The African National Congress Tshwane branch accused the Tshwane Municipality of a having a hand in the outbreak.

Source: Briefly News